Board

Mr Jason Glanville

Chairperson

Jason Glanville is a member of the Wiradjuri peoples from south-western New South Wales. Over the last twenty years he has worked in a range of positions in community-based Indigenous organisations, state and federal governments and non-government peak organisations.

Jason is currently Program Director for the Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity, an Associate Professor of the National Centre for Indigenous Studies at The Australian National University and holds board positions on the National Australia Day Council and the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre.

Jason was recently the inaugural CEO of the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) based in Redfern, former Director of Programs and Strategy at Reconciliation Australia and was a member of the Steering Committee for the creation of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples.

In 2010 he was named in the (Sydney) magazine’s 100 most influential people and in 2011 he was featured in Boss Magazine’s True Leaders of 2011 list.

Prof. Michael Dodson

B Juris; LlB; LlD(HC) Lit D (HC)

Deputy Chairman

Professor Mick Dodson is a member of the Yawuru peoples the traditional Aboriginal owners of land and waters in the Broome area of the southern Kimberley region of Western Australia. He is currently Director of the National Centre for Indigenous Studies at the Australian National University and a Professor of Law at the ANU College of Law.

Professor Dodson is also currently a Director of Dodson, Bauman & Associates Pty Ltd – Legal & Anthropological Consultants. He is formerly the Director of the Indigenous Law Centre at the University of New South Wales, Kensington.

Professor Dodson was Australia’s first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity. He served as Commissioner from April 1993 to January 1998.

Ms Tanya Hosch

Tanya Hosch is the General Manager, Inclusion and Social Policy with the Australian Football League (AFL).

Prior to this, Tanya has been in advocacy and consulting roles with the aim of increasing philanthropic investment into Indigenous development. Tanya was an integral member of the team responsible for the model design and establishment of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples. More recently Tanya was the Joint Campaign Director for Recognise, the movement to raise community awareness and support for constitutional change to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Australian Constitution.

Tanya currently sits on the boards of the Bangarra Dance Theatre, the National Board of the Australian Red Cross, and has recently been appointed as the Independent Chair of Price Waterhouse Coopers Indigenous Consulting.

In 2013 Tanya was named in the South Australian Women’s Honour Roll and for two consecutive years was recognised in the list of ‘100 Women of Influence’ Awards run by Westpac and the Australian Financial Review to recognise women who are achievers in Australian business and society.

Dr Diane Smith

PhD (Anthropology), MA, BA(Hons), Assoc Dip (Wood Design)

Diane Smith is an anthropologist with over 40 years experience working with Indigenous Australian communities and organisations in remote, rural and urban locations. She is currently a Senior Research Fellow, and the Higher Degree by Research (HDR) Program Manager, National Centre for Indigenous Studies at The Australian National University.

Diane has carried out extensive governance research, and published widely on related issues of Indigenous affairs policy, governance and capacity development, research methods, native title and land rights, organisational effectiveness, and cultures of governance. She was Chief Investigator of the ground-breaking Australian Indigenous Community Governance Research Project and subsequently wrote the learning content for the Indigenous Governance Toolkit – a web-based resource that assists Indigenous people in their efforts to build effective and culturally legitimate governance.

Ms Jane Pound

BEc, LLB

Jane is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the National Centre for Indigenous Studies at The Australian National University and has nearly 20 years experience providing legal and strategic advice across both the private and not-for-profit sectors, most recently at PwC Indigenous Consulting as the Victorian State Director. Jane currently sits on the board of Culture is Life Limited and First Australian Capital Limited.

Previous appointments include Legal Counsel at Foundation for Young Australians, Director at Social Ventures Australia, senior lawyer at Gilbert + Tobin and in a corporate advisory role as Senior Manager at Ernst and Young. Jane was admitted to practice as a solicitor in Victoria in 1996.

Ms Michelle Deshong

CEO

Michelle Deshong is from Townsville, North Queensland and draws here connection to Kuku Yulanji nation. She has completed a BA with First Class Honours in Political Science and Indigenous studies and is working on her PhD (on the participation of Aboriginal women in public and political life) at James Cook University.

Michelle has worked in both the Government and NGO sectors, and has held many senior leadership roles. From 2001-2010 Michelle was the Director of the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre and in 2001 she was awarded ACT Aboriginal Person of the year. She currently holds a number of directorship roles in the Not for Profit sector. In 2013 Michelle was named in the Australian Financial Review/Westpac 100 Women of Influence Awards.

Michelle has extensive experience in areas of leadership, governance and politics. She has a strong commitment to human rights and has also been an NGO representative on many occasions at the United Nations forums on the Commission on the Status of Women and Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. She has a strong background in gender equality and works to ensures that the voices of Indigenous women are represented at all levels.

In 2016 Michelle is undertook research in the USA and Canada as part of her Fulbright scholarship to develop strategies for Nation building, leadership and gender equality. She was also named as the 2015 National NAIDOC Scholar of the Year.